woodduck Reference

I'm mounting a woodduck for an upcoming compitition and i wanthim in a landing position. I have several pictures of standingand flying ducks but none of any landing.. Does anyone knowwhere i might find any? Thanks for all your help..

maybe...

This response submitted by Nancy M. on 4/17/01. ( ) 207.224.250.76

I have never seen such a photo, although there could be some somewhere. If you have a photo of a landing puddle duck I think it is reasonable to assume that the pose would be similar. I wouldn't use a diver because the wing loading is so much higher and most of them barely have tails. A lot of times if you can't find a photo of the exact species you want in a certain pose you can use one of another species in the same genus. OK, I know that would have to be a Mandarin, but I think a puddle duck would be close. Do you have Prarie Wings? It's a great reference for flying ducks.Avian aerodynamics is remarkably consistant even across species as long as the wing loading and flight style is similar. ie: hummingbirds, sparrows, gulls, soaring hawks, falcons, jays, quail, etc. etc.Nancy M.

Have photos, sketch, whatever, film at eleven.

Woodies do not land like other puddle ducks. The tail surface is like that of a spad biplane. Mallards cannot twist and turn as tightly as a woodie, nor is the tail rudder surface used as well as does the woodrow use his. Woodies seldom glide for long distances to the water, even over open water as do pintails and mallards. The landing is usually a full brakes, stop-at-all-cost flare-out with all surfaces back-pedaling.

One of the most fascinating sights in nature is a hen woody landing, or should I say "falling" into a nest hole. They fly hell-bent to the hole, flare out at the last second and literally fall into the hole while folding wings. I had to shoot slo-mo film of the event just to proove to myself that my eyes weren't deceiving me.

I have been in the midst of hundreds of roosting woodies in several locations and had them land within three feet of my waders. They swarm down like bumblebees flare-out at a height of two to three feet and fall to the water. They will hover when landing in buck brush or other dense vegetation.

I will help you on this project, because I have yet to see a woodie mount that displayed the force and potential of their maneuvering....you tell me how you want to suspend the mount, and I will send photos and full sketches for your use.......no charge....cheap at half the price. Would have done one myself but cobbler's children have no shoes, as they say....Got some prime Late season, full plumage woodies in the freezer.......ain't never gonna have time. Contact me.

Bill is right again

This response submitted by Nancy M. on 4/17/01. ( ) 207.224.250.119

Indeed woodies are very agile flyers. I have kept a number in a large free flight pen. They can hover, albeit clumsily, and they can reverse direction in the space of 2 or 3 feet. I was refering mainly to the positions that they assume with their heads and feet. In a lot of ways, I think their flight resembles that of a large pigeon [without the gliding]. One summer I had a bunch of them escape for several weeks. They kept returning and it was amazing to see them ROCKET through the trees at about...oh, warp 7 or so. And I mean DENSE trees. I'm in the Pacific northwest.Nancy M.